The fate of the world’s largest nuclear power station hangs in the balance this month as local lawmakers in Japan decide whether to authorise a controversial restart, a move that would mark a significant pivot in the nation’s post-Fukushima energy policy.
A regional assembly in Niigata Prefecture began deliberations on Tuesday regarding the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant.
The debate is set to conclude with a vote by 22 December, potentially paving the way for the facility to generate electricity as early as January 2025.
The plant, located approximately 300 kilometres (186 miles) northeast of Tokyo on the coast of the Sea of Japan, has been idle since the industry-wide shutdown following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi reactors.
The vote carries immense symbolic weight because Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the same operator responsible for the Fukushima disaster.
If Unit No. 6 is brought back online, it would be the first time TEPCO has operated a nuclear reactor since the 2011 meltdown.
The road to this vote has been fraught with regulatory hurdles. For years, Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) effectively banned the restart due to serious security breaches at the site, including the misuse of ID cards and inadequate protection of nuclear materials. That effective ban was only lifted recently, allowing TEPCO to proceed with seeking local consent.
"The use of nuclear energy is essential in Japan, which has few resources," TEPCO President Tomiaki Kobayakawa stated on Monday, attempting to reassure stakeholders during a tour with delegates from the Japan Business Federation.
Energy Security vs. Public Safety
The peaceful coastal area encompassing Kashiwazaki city and Kariwa village is home to around 80,000 people. While the local economy relies heavily on the plant, anxiety remains palpable.
Yukihiko Hoshino, a member of the Kashiwazaki city assembly, highlighted that local residents are deeply concerned about the possibility of another accident, particularly regarding escape routes.
"The biggest worry is whether they will be able to evacuate," Hoshino said. He noted that displaced residents from the Fukushima area are still unable to return home more than a decade later.
These fears were compounded by the severe earthquake that struck the nearby Noto Peninsula on New Year’s Day 2024. That disaster damaged roads and isolated communities, leading many in Niigata to question whether current evacuation plans would hold up during a major seismic event involving the nuclear plant.
The Economic Imperative
Despite public hesitation, the geopolitical and economic arguments for restarting the plant are gaining traction. Following the Fukushima disaster, Japan shuttered all 54 of its nuclear reactors, forcing a heavy reliance on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has been a vocal proponent of nuclear restarts to strengthen national energy security and mitigate the volatility of global fossil fuel markets. Imported energy currently accounts for 60% to 70% of Japan's electricity generation.
Furthermore, Japan’s power demand, which had been in decline, is now projected to grow. This shift is driven by a surge in energy-hungry data centres and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence businesses, necessitating a stable, low-carbon baseload power supply.
TEPCO has been conducting drills involving staff in hazmat suits to demonstrate improved safety protocols. The operator aims to restart the 1,356-megawatt Unit No. 6 in January, pending the assembly's approval, and hopes to bring Unit No. 7 online subsequently. TEPCO has indicated it may decommission the remaining five older reactors at the site.
Of the 54 reactors operational before 2011, Japan has successfully restarted 14 of the 33 that remain technically operable. According to Japan's industry ministry, Unit No. 6 alone could improve the supply reserve for the Tokyo metropolitan area by 2%.
As TEPCO continues to pay compensation for the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is viewed as essential for the company's financial rehabilitation, as well as for Japan’s carbon reduction goals.
Global debt surged to a record $348.3 trillion at the end of 2025, after nearly $29 trillion was added over the year, marking the fastest annual i...
The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state has risen to 46, authorities said, with 21 people still reported missing...
Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab and Ombudsman Alfredo Ruiz tendered their resignations to the National Assembly on Wednesday. Neithe...
Four people aboard a U.S.-registered speedboat, flagged in Florida, were killed and six others wounded on Wednesday after the vessel entered Cuban ter...
Syria’s economy is showing clear signs of recovery, with economic activity accelerating in recent months, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said...
Global debt surged to a record $348.3 trillion at the end of 2025, after nearly $29 trillion was added over the year, marking the fastest annual increase since the pandemic, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF) report released on Wednesday.
The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state has risen to 46, authorities said, with 21 people still reported missing. The storms triggered landslides and widespread flooding, displacing thousands across Juiz de Fora and Uba.
Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab and Ombudsman Alfredo Ruiz tendered their resignations to the National Assembly on Wednesday. Neither official has publicly provided reasons for stepping down.
Four people aboard a U.S.-registered speedboat, flagged in Florida, were killed and six others wounded on Wednesday after the vessel entered Cuban territorial waters and fired on Cuban border patrol forces, Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior (MININT) reported.
The Taliban in Kabul has rejected Russian claims that more than 23,000 militants from around 20 international terror groups are currently operating within Afghanistan.
Four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the war is no longer defined by shock but by scale.
Seven people were killed after gunmen ambushed a police patrol in Kohat, a district in Pakistan’s north-west near the Afghan border, on Tuesday, in an attack that comes amid rising militant violence and heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Four years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war can be measured not only in lives and territory, but in money. In Part One, the war’s cost was measured in casualties and kilometres. In Part Two, it is measured in billions of dollars.
Thailand and the United States, alongside 28 partner nations, began Southeast Asia’s largest and longest-running military exercise, the 45th Cobra Gold, on Tuesday (24 February) in Rayong province, Thailand.
The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state has risen to 46, authorities said, with 21 people still reported missing. The storms triggered landslides and widespread flooding, displacing thousands across Juiz de Fora and Uba.
Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab and Ombudsman Alfredo Ruiz tendered their resignations to the National Assembly on Wednesday. Neither official has publicly provided reasons for stepping down.
Four people aboard a U.S.-registered speedboat, flagged in Florida, were killed and six others wounded on Wednesday after the vessel entered Cuban territorial waters and fired on Cuban border patrol forces, Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior (MININT) reported.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wednesday (25 February) on more than 30 individuals, entities and "shadow fleet" vessels it said enabled Iran's illicit petroleum sales, ballistic missiles and weapons production.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest State of the Union address set out a second-term agenda built on economic protectionism, military strength and a hard line on Iran, signalling a strategy that pairs diplomatic engagement with firm red lines, Assoc. Prof. Orkhan Valiyev told AnewZ Daybreak.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment